


The one where it's an adventure

by orphan_account



Series: The various complications of magic [7]
Category: Ghost - Mystery Skulls (Music Video), Mystery Skulls (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-24
Packaged: 2018-02-26 07:36:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2643533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about death is that it's the one place people can't easily follow. That doesn't stop them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the first fic of this series to understand what's going on.
> 
> EDIT: REASONS I NEED A BETA. AND NEED TO ACTUALLY USE SAID BETA
> 
> "Insert scary sounding place here." I got three comments and none of them wanted to point this out to me. You guys are assholes. (I lie, I love you).

When they find the letter they are so filled with grief despite Lewis' revival. It worked but at a cost. Arthur's body lies in the middle of the circle, eyes open and smiling surrounded by dark runes. His right arm, the flesh one, lies on his chest in a cruel parody of someone set to rest. His left one does not budge, locked in place. Mystery tears at the offending book, attacks it with his claws and canines but Vivi yells desperately for him to "don't". Mystery stops, pages stuck to his canines and his claw marks all over the cover. Lewis, naked and cold on the floor, won't stop staring at Arthur's dead body.

Vivi flips through the book, mouthing words as if that will take away the vision of two of her friends dead on the ground. The cover of the book is ruined but not the later chapters. Not the chapter labeled "Revival Spell." She plops on the ground in the middle of the circle, Arthur's blonde hair tickling her skin, and reads, not caring for anything outside the book even when Mystery nudges her. Even when Lewis gets up and puts clothes on. She reads as they carry away Arthur's lifeless body. She reads until her tears blur the words and her glasses are fogged.

She reads the whole book, start to finish in trying to find a reversal. She finds a communication spell, a way to contact the dead and she ropes in Lewis and Mystery into trying it. They wait for hours with the candles Arthur lit waning around them and... nothing. Lewis tries to comfort her, hugs her from behind and she feels warmth, a warmth she never thought she'd feel again. She cries into his arms and asks, "Why?" Lewis just rubs her back, his own tears spilling slowly and dropping on her blue hair, "I don't know."

Lewis thinks back to Arthur's farewell letter. One of Arthur's last sentences was on how Vivi forgot about Lewis' after his death, not that she meant to obviously, but it was something that happened. A statement. Arthur had wondered if Vivi would forget about Arthur too. She cursed as she read that sentence, her hands trembling, cursed Arthur and his stupidity. Lewis catches himself wishing that she would forget; a selfish thought but after seeing Vivi like this. He'd think Arthur would agree.

They don't exactly bury the body. Vivi was adamant that there had to be a reversal. It wasn't that she loved Arthur more but at least when Lewis was dead he was still around, still able to communicate them. Arthur did not produce a phantom. Arthur was gone. The very least they could do was to find out if Arthur was okay.

They go back to the old dead-raiser's house, the house Arthur got the book from. The place is untouched, exactly as they remember it, winding hallways and creaky stairs, runes etched into every doorway. There is no end to creepy novels and dark magic spell books so Vivi spends weeks and months translating ancient tex. As if this was another mystery that needed solving. They don't have the heart to tell her that this might be a case without a solution.

They help her search. Every nook in the library and every cranny in the bedrooms. Feeling remorseful when nothing sticks, when everything they try is either out of their reach or a hoax. She tries to find the spellbook that the old man used to make all those zombies but it was taken. The police took it and burned it. She yells at them for that.

"We need it!" She yells desperately. Her fists bunched up and her eyes desperate.

Lewis quickly puts his hand over her mouth, warm and calloused but gentle. He smiles, a disarming smile that always used to charm their parents into letting them out late.

It comes to them after a midnight snack, Lewis who doesn't remember to feed himself after months of being incorporeal and Vivi who is too focused to eat convene at the dinner table and, surprisingly enough, that's where they find the sequel. Behind a three-year old bag of chips and a mold infested sack of bread. She reads until dawn and when she falls asleep in the chair next to the rain-soaked window, Lewis carries her back to the guest bedroom.

"Arthur isn't dead!" Vivi says despite the fact Arthur's currently very dead. In fact he's in a morgue at the local hospital. "He's trapped in another dimension!"

Lewis looks at Mystery who looks back at Lewis with an 'I don't know' sort of look.

Vivi drops the tome, for it is a tome, bigger than Lewis could comfortably carry anyway, on the coffee table. Lewis hurriedly goes to swipe his cup of coffee that jumps at the sudden displacement.

"What's this about another dimension?" Mystery asks, bringing a paw up to adjust his glasses.

"Arthur sacrificed his soul to another dimension. That's why we can't contact him, the dimension is apparently sealed tight. No way in. No way out!" She smiles, giddily and her eyes light up. Any other time Lewis would've described the sight as breathtaking and lovely. Now all he sees is manic. Vivi's hair is a mess, a bird's nest waiting to be filled with crows and eggs, her eyes are bloodshot, dark bruises edging on her cheeks.

"And you're happy about this because...?" Mystery says. He hasn't spoken much since Arthur's death. Out of everyone he was attached to Arthur the most but Vivi seemed to make the impossible happen.

"Because we're getting him out." And there was the old Vivi. Her eyes glinting in determination. She flips to a chapter labeled "The Forgotten."

"If it's sealed shut," Lewis says, grimacing at the gruesome picture that Arthur would not like, "then how do we get there?"

Vivi fidgets with her scarf, tangling her fingers in long loose threads, "That's the hard part."

"And how do we leave once we get him?" Mystery asks, his eyes patient but withering.

"That's the harder part." Vivi admits.


	2. Chapter 2

"The Forgotten" is where souls who were cursed in life as well as death live. It's where they stay for eternity until someone summons them with dark magic for their bidding. A magic circle appears at the center of the bleak dimension, a beam of light shooting to the heavens signaling freedom. Spirits fight each other for the exit. Not knowing assigned task. Not knowing how long they will have before they're back again. Back in The Forgotten.

Horrific images of skeletons and monsters impaling each other and consuming one another litter half the pages of the chapter. Beasts with twenty eyes and men with a thousand scars burning in flames. Vivi, Lewis and Mystery all shiver, Arthur wouldn't stand a chance against the old spirits no doubt more powerful than any of them joined.

"So what are we going to do?" Lewis asks, his tan hands automatically going for a locket that isn't there. They obviously couldn't try to summon Arthur, another spirit would no doubt tear him apart to get out.

"Spirits can be released from their hold in The Forgotten if their Master wishes." Vivi says as she flips the book a few pages forward, her eyebrows furrowing. "There's not a lot on the theories and the how-to's but its possible."

"But first we have to summon him don't we?" Mystery states more than asks. "Is there no way we can't summon a specific spirit?"

Vivi shakes her head, "Not unless it's a strong spirit and I doubt three week-old Arthur ghost is powerful enough to count."

"Can't we just have the spirit we summon retrieve Arthur?" Lewis asks looking over Vivi's shoulder. The images are horrific yes but the descriptions are worse. The Forgotten is a desolate place filled with spirits older than the Merlin, worse than the boogeyman, only the damned and those who messed up dark rituals ended up there.

"Once the spirit goes back to The Forgotten it stays there." Vivi bites her lip and looks anxiously at them.

"What are you suggesting?" Lewis asks. He tries to think of the things they could try to do. If they couldn't communicate with Arthur, if they couldn't summon Arthur, then what could they really do?

It's Mystery who figures it out. The dog is smart and older than he seems but modest. Lewis wonders if Mystery's ever heard of The Forgotten in his long years as a mystical being.

"You want us to sacrifice ourselves to help Arthur." Mystery states in that calm tone of his. Lewis looks at Vivi, not judgmental but waiting. The girl was always headstrong and foot first but he hopes there's more to the plan than that.

She nods, of course she nods, and says, "One of us has to stay behind to summon us. The rest…"

"Will what? Die in the hopes that we can save Arthur?" Mystery practically growls, "Vivi, I love Arthur as much as a dog can love his friend but The Forgotten is not a place to be messed with. We don't even know if he's still  _alive_ , he could've been consumed by a stronger deity." While his mouth growls his dark brown eyes show sympathy. Mystery walks forward, his growls becoming a pitiful whimper, "He might not be alive in any sense."

Vivi shuts her eyes as if to ward away the images. Lewis puts a hand on her back, his thumb creating soothing patterns that she feels through the thick fabric of her sweater. She shakes her head back and forth, back and forth, her fist clenching. No one wanted to think of Arthur gone in the past few months but the proof was in rigid flesh and bone.

"We have to try." Lewis says. Vivi opens her eyes to the images of gore on the books pages, a man's mouth open in horror as his legs a monster consumes in search of power. Power enough to one day escape The Forgotten even if only for a little while.

They have to try.

But first they have to find a book that will teach them how to summon beasts.

Mystery calls in a few favors from men and women unknown. By the next day there are stacks of books on the doorstep: summoning books, ritual books, how-tos and the pros and cons of one over the other. It can't be a small ritual or else they'll only get a portal big enough to transfer one spirit. It can't be a big ritual with sacrifices of lives and blood. It can't be a ritual that is too easy or it'll attract every spirit across The Forgotten. More importantly they need to find a ritual that could conceivably work twice or even thrice.

Mystery, who has the most paranormal experience out of all of them, gently reminds them that the dead have no sense of time.

"There are no days and no nights in the afterlife." He says sagely, "We cannot communicate between realms. There's a chance you might not be ready when I summon you. It has to allow a second or maybe even a third redoing."

It narrows the options significantly. Many rituals give off a 'one time only vibe' and so, with their hastiness to get to Arthur before he kills himself, they find the perfect one in a dust-covered book labelled, "Summoning Creatures: The guide."

"It's perfect. A few incense, more than one summon, only requires one caster." Vivi says as her eyes roam the page like an owl and it's prey. She swoops in and hugs Mystery and then Lewis.

"We finally found it."

"Now we need to decide on who's going and who's staying." Lewis says, continuing with a firm, "I'm going." He wasn't going to lose Vivi. Vivi who was headstrong but couldn't turn away from danger if it was staring her in the eyes, (which has happened too often for Lewis' comfort). She'd try to take them on her own, just two tiny fists and a kicking leg. She'd die. She'd die with Arthur and it'd be all his fault.

"That's not deciding, that's enforcing and no you're not,  _I_  am." Vivi says, her hands on her hips and a glare partly blocked by half-moon glasses. "I already lost you once Lewis.  _I'm_  going." She turns, grabbing the other book, the book that Arthur used to revive Lewis and Mystery tore in frustration. In theory, if they did the spell regardless of if they had something to revive or not, they'd go to The Forgotten too.

Mystery, born without a soul, could not travel with them to The Forgotten. He would ultimately be in charge of making sure the ritual went right. "I might be able to help." He says as his eyes glint a crimson red, "I'm not exactly allowed to mess with mortals but seeing as how you guys are about to die…"

" _I_ am." Lewis corrects with a glare to Vivi, "I'm the only one who's going to be dying seeing as how I have the most experience with the subject." He steps next up to Mystery like a soldier going to war; Mystery his recruitment officer, "What is it?"

They don't get to see Mystery transform often. The dog said he was more comfortable in his subtle form. First his legs and body stretches. He growls, his long snout opening to reveal sharpened teeth. There's a mark that appears at Mystery's forehead, resembling a flame, his tail becoming tails, nine and long curling in front of him, it's tips blood-red.

Vivi is usually delighted when Mystery transforms, always petting him and commenting on his shiny fur, asking him to do some tricks  _please_. Now she stares coldly at the fox. "Whatever it is, give it to me.  _I'm_  going."

Mystery whose eyes resemble rubies and whose voice sings with mystics, says, "You two must decide who must go."

Lewis and Vivi argue for hours while Mystery, still in his fox form, studies the ritual needed to summon his friends. In the end Lewis wins with logic and experience. Vivi pouts as she helps Mystery, whose tails while surprisingly dexterous, can't draw a straight line for shit.

"Here." Mystery says once most of the preparation is done. He hops onto a stool with grace even though it's small and his front paws are half off. "Kneel in front of me."

Lewis does not question but kneels on shaky knees. His eyes follow Mystery's tails that stand at attention like a peacock's feathers, the tails glowing with every color of the rainbow.

"Lewis, take my blessing. Let this orb, a symbol of my power, keep you safe in The Forgotten." The rightmost tail glows a bright violet before it transfers into a ball, floating forward and casting an eerie glow on his face. Vivi who wouldn't stop muttering about unfairness through the prep was staring entranced. "Let your previous experience as a specter guide you. Let your love for Arthur guide you to him. Let your love for us guide you home."

The orb glows and slowly, over where his newly made heart beats, it enters him. He feels a warmth, spreading slowly through his bones and his blood. It feels familiar. It feels like the same warmth from the fire he produced when he was a ghost. It settles in and then it's like nothing was ever wrong. Like a warm ray of sunshine before he's back in the shade.

"It'll activate only when you're just pure soul. Sorry but I can't help you beyond that." Mystery's tail drop returning to their usual white with red tips. His eyes are knowing like a wizened old man. Lewis wonders what gives the usually happy dog such a heavy look, his inability to help or what Lewis is bound to face in The Forgotten, probably both. He does not ask.

He rubs at his chest and looks at Vivi. She looks away quickly, going back to drawing runes with hard strokes that slightly screech against the wooden floor boards.

When they're finally finished, their backs sore from drawing tiny runes and their fingers covered in chalk and charcoal, they all sit down on the floor. It is dark out, the crickets chirping and they're all pointedly not looking at each other exactly.

"Be safe." Vivi says, tugging at her scarf. "Get Arthur back to us."

His voice is coarse and his fingers faintly tremble, "I will." He promises in a whisper.

Mystery, still in his demon fox form, stretches, one of his tails brushing against the tag that Arthur bought him when he still thought Mystery was just a regular dog.

"We should probably do this ritual before they kill Arthur."

They gather around the runes. The same runes Arthur stood in a month ago in the same empty guest bedroom. They've gotten his body back from the morgue. It rests, cold and still beneath a white blanket in his old room. Hopefully being dead for a few months won't cause any problems for him.

Lewis steps in the southernmost circle, the northernmost circle empty. Vivi and Mystery watch as Lewis carefully recites the incantation. It's a long incantation, lengthy with large words that required at least two hours of pronunciation learning. Repeating it over and over to make sure Lewis got it right.

And Arthur, who was never one for books and said both with a 'w'. He had to have spent a lot of time mouthing words, tracing foreign runes with callused fingertips.

And they didn't notice.

When Lewis is finished he's a corpse on the ground, blood dripping out of his mouth. Mystery picks him up with his tails and lays him on the couch face up. When Mystery turns around Vivi is already standing on the southernmost circle.

"You can't stop me." Vivi says. Her eyes focused on the runes and not on Mystery or Lewis whose last legible words were, "I will."

"I won't." Mystery says. He gestures for her to come to him. "Kneel." He says.

She kneels and is not surprised by the glowing fox tails or when a blue orb enters her body, cooling her from the inside out. What does surprise her is when an orange globe gets placed in her hand.

"For Arthur." Mystery explains, "Give it to him when you find him."

She nods and places the sunny globe in her skirt pocket.

"Good luck." Mystery says as Vivi falls onto Mystery's back, a dead weight. He places her on the couch next to the one Lewis occupies. They lie still as corpses but hopefully not for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to SPN-100 who beta'd this for me. Any mistake you find is all on me. Also I took some liberties with Mystery's powers if you couldn't tell.

**Author's Note:**

> Ah, I feel like it's a little rushed but then again I'm editing it in math class. This is the last multiple ending but not the last chapter. It'll come later on.
> 
> Thank you for all the nice comments and kudos. I really appreciate it! I have other msa fics in mind so don't worry about me drying out.  
> Also 2,000,000 views and potential char profiles! It's kind of half the reason I'm posting all these together. Get all the ooc fics outta the way.


End file.
